Pakistan blunt the best bowling attack by emphasising old values

DUBAI // While a member of England's support staff fumbled over slotting the finicky GPS device into its sports bra-style holster, Jonathan Trott, the hassled wearer, might have been debating how much merit there really is in progress.

Not long before, the purveyor of old-fashioned dobbers had taken a wicket with a classic in-ducker. He probably did not need any satellite-generated data to tell him how far he had run to do it.

This England team live by the mantra that if you stand still you will be overtaken. Everything about their cricket is thoroughly modern, from their high-visibility, brilliant white kit, to their bleep test fielding drills with musical accompaniment.

Their methods obviously do work. They are the world’s best side in an era in which macho players can score Test match hundreds in 69 balls.

By stark contrast, Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan's insouciant captain, barely moved out of second gear yesterday – and off-white gear it is, too.

His side crawled along at 2.7 runs an over, eschewing risk and thrills. And they ended day two of the first Test of the series in a position of great power. Ironically, given the sport’s oldest format being played in one of its newest and most high-spec venues, yesterday was a strike back for the good old days.

Pakistan’s batsman succeeded in playing what Matt Prior, the lone England batsman to emerge in credit from their first innings, had termed “the long game”.

They blunted the world’s best bowling attack by placing an emphasis on old values of doggedness, a straight bat and a high front elbow.

Misbah himself took 144 balls to reach his 15th Test match half-century. So entrenched was he, it felt like he was a 150 year old fossil, from the days when 220 in a day was a noteworthy achievement.

His side's most productive, not to mention fluent, scorer was Mohammed Hafeez. The opener, who played an important hand with the ball, struck 88 before falling victim to Graeme Swann, the off-spinner.

Swann played a sizeable role in reviving England’s wilting hopes late in the day, too, when he trapped Misbah in front in the penultimate over.

When that was followed almost immediately afterwards by James Anderson bowling Abdul Rehman, England ended the day in high spirits.

“We would have hoped for a little more today,” Hafeez said. “The fast bowlers were good and Swann bowled very well, so we are a bit down.

“Still we are in a good position where we can dominate this game. We are in control of this game, and with two spinners in our team, we have a really good chance.”

Before this series started, Stuart Broad, the England fast-bowler, forecast "old school Test cricket" would be the order of the next month of cricket.

The day they lost trying to play a forceful modern game might be decisive in this match, but Broad insists all was not lost when they were bowled out for 192 on the opening day.

“You can look back to Brisbane [in the first Ashes Test] and Trent Bridge [against India] when we had an average first innings, and the bowlers kept us in the game,” he said.

“In our second batting innings we went really big. It is going to be up to a couple of batsmen to go and score big hundreds. The batsmen are excited to be putting the wrongs of the first innings right.”

Pakistan's top order set a good template for the England players to follow. In a manner of speaking, Misbah's methodology is massively groundbreaking by Pakistan standards.

He believes winning, even if it means playing defensively, beats losing by playing aggressively. It is a crazy theory, but it might just work.

pradley@thenational.ae

Also see our related coverage from yesterday:

Pakistan's Ajmal has England reeling in First Test in Dubai

England's Barmy Army always bring the weather with them

Slowly does it in Dubai's spin city for Pakistan